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Arpetee

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2013
21
0
I recently purchased a 15" MBPr refurbished from the Apple store. I know when I was trying to decide what to buy I appreciated threads from new users detailing their experience so I wanted to make a little thread here in hopes that it helps someone else out.

As I mentioned, I bought this refurbished to save some money. It came what appeared as brand new. Could not find the smallest little scratch anywhere on the machine. Also noteworthy... This is my first Apple computer. Actually my first Apple product besides one of the original iPods. I've been a PC guy but I couldn't deny the fact that Apple made the best laptops so I when the time came I decided to invest in one.

The Decision: I had a hell of a time deciding between 13" and 15" and ultimately what made my decision was the hard drive space. 128gb is just too small, and I wasn't going to pay what would've been basically the same price as a 15" and sacrifice all the added performance just for a slightly smaller computer. I have a powerful desktop at home, so I probably would've preferred the smaller size just because it will go everywhere with me, but the 15" is by no means too big, and was worth the extra $400 TO ME for double the hard drive space, double the processing cores, and dedicated GPU.

Impressions: I've read lots of threads which complaints about performance, and I am happy to say that I have experienced none of these. Granted, I've only had this computer for less than a week but I can't find a single complaint. Everything is fast, screen is beautiful, and I'm loving the gestures. I haven't had the chance to really put it through the ringer yet but thus far its been pretty much perfect.

Complaints: I don't have really any complaints in regards to the actual computer thus far, EXCEPT that I can't change the behavior of the computer when I close the lid. But as I said, being a PC guy I don't have anything invested in the Apple ecosystem (And will continue to avoid it unless it directly benefits my MacBook), so when I had to log in with my Apple ID and enter a credit card number for the App Store just to download a system update I was a little baffled. On top of that, the App store said my credit card information didn't match the banks records, which it absolutely did. Fortunately, I had a second card that worked fine.

So to those on the fence about making the purchase, I would highly recommend it. I don't see much point in waiting until the next iteration because I don't personally believe it will be a very significant upgrade, at least for the 15". The 13" will likely be a little more on par (and will hopefully come standard with 256gb) with its next release, but unless you HAVE to have the smaller package, jump on the 15". You can always sell it for probably near what a 13" will cost when they are released next if you desire the smaller package.

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Also picked up this sleeve: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H...-for-macbook-pro-with-retina-display?fnode=50

Fits great, very snug with more padding than I actually expected. The zippers can come into contact with the laptop as you put it in the sleeve, but as long as your at least somewhat careful I don't see it as an issue.
 

Arpetee

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2013
21
0
Install BootCamp and play a graphic-intensive game to see if you are plagued with the EFI bug https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1452267/

I was concerned about that, and I will probably get around to it sometime soon but as of right now I don't really have plans to play games on my Macbook, that's what I have my desktop for. So until someone makes an MMO worth playing, its a non-issue for me personally. But, when I get around to it I will update.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,148
18,875
... so when I had to log in with my Apple ID and enter a credit card number for the App Store just to download a system update I was a little baffled.

Just a quick info: you don't actually have to enter any credit card information. You can create an account without it. BTW, are you 100% sure that you even need an account to download system updates?
 

Arpetee

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2013
21
0
Just a quick info: you don't actually have to enter any credit card information. You can create an account without it. BTW, are you 100% sure that you even need an account to download system updates?

Well when I went to install it prompted me to log in as the update seemed to be downloaded through the app store. So it sure seemed like it. And I couldn't figure out how to progress without entering a card number. Not a huge deal really, but definitely a (seemingly pointless) inconvenience.
 

adjeff8

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2012
466
4
Arpetee said:
So to those on the fence about making the purchase, I would highly recommend it. I don't see much point in waiting until the next iteration because I don't personally believe it will be a very significant upgrade, at least for the 15". The 13" will likely be a little more on par (and will hopefully come standard with 256gb) with its next release, but unless you HAVE to have the smaller package, jump on the 15". You can always sell it for probably near what a 13" will cost when they are released next if you desire the smaller package.[COLOR="#

I'm going to have to disagree with that statement. First generation Apple products are notoriously somewhat half baked. I went out of my way not to get the first iPhone, iPad and rMBP. And from all the things I've read, I'm feel I made the right decision. Although there are many happy buyers as well. As far as the rMBP goes, the next iteration, which will come out in a few short months, will be a 2nd Generation, with I'm sure several kinks worked out, perhaps a few things added that they held back on like they always do with first generation products, it will have the Haswell processor that will give it 15% more CPU power and anywhere from 50% to 80% more GPU power, which the retina display needs, it will have a new much improved wifi technology, and most probably the base model will have a bigger SSD. Also, the price MAY come down $100 to $200, which is enough to pay the taxes. My advice, if you can wait a few months then you should wait. I am.
 

thekev

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2010
7,005
3,343
Also, the price MAY come down $100 to $200, which is enough to pay the taxes. My advice, if you can wait a few months then you should wait. I am.

I don't expect a price drop just yet. The gains will likely be most noticeable at the 13" level where you're completely reliant on the igpu. I agree with you on first generation stuff. They get hyped a lot, but in my experience the second always fixes a number of things.
 

walkie

macrumors 6502
Feb 13, 2010
331
3
Arpetee said:
So to those on the fence about making the purchase, I would highly recommend it. I don't see much point in waiting until the next iteration because I don't personally believe it will be a very significant upgrade, at least for the 15". The 13" will likely be a little more on par (and will hopefully come standard with 256gb) with its next release, but unless you HAVE to have the smaller package, jump on the 15". You can always sell it for probably near what a 13" will cost when they are released next if you desire the smaller package.[COLOR="#

I'm going to have to disagree with that statement. First generation Apple products are notoriously somewhat half baked. I went out of my way not to get the first iPhone, iPad and rMBP. And from all the things I've read, I'm feel I made the right decision. Although there are many happy buyers as well. As far as the rMBP goes, the next iteration, which will come out in a few short months, will be a 2nd Generation, with I'm sure several kinks worked out, perhaps a few things added that they held back on like they always do with first generation products, it will have the Haswell processor that will give it 15% more CPU power and anywhere from 50% to 80% more GPU power, which the retina display needs, it will have a new much improved wifi technology, and most probably the base model will have a bigger SSD. Also, the price MAY come down $100 to $200, which is enough to pay the taxes. My advice, if you can wait a few months then you should wait. I am.


This is the never ending story, I was in the same boat waiting for the next rMBP iteration to come out but I'm getting older and I don't feel like waiting 6 or 7 months for the new one to hit the shelves :), you will have to wait at least until September or so, and Intel is more focus on power savings for Haswell than GPU which is expected to be around 15% faster, Apple feels comfortably about retina laptops because no other laptop maker has made such a resolution on a laptop, so there still aren't competitors for the rMBP and there isn't still a reason for Apple to make many changes to the next iteration, Apple will do some little tweaks in the next iteration for sure but that's all, I feel that apart from some IR screen problems, most of the problems found in rMBP was about Mountain Lion and the availability of ready applications, the 15" machine is really capable of doing the job fast, I got mine last week and wasn't able to rise the CPU monitor bars above 10% or so when running my apps and browsing the Internet, I sometimes feel this is an overkill machine for me, so If you need it now just buy it, otherwise wait. What Apple can do in the next iteration is to lower the price and make all MBPs retina, I think they're done with the traditional MBP, retina is the future and there is no way back. The worst first-iteration I have had with Apple was the first gen iPad that didn't have enough RAM memory, but MBP is a device Apple have been making for years and the rMBP is the best computer I've ever had.
 
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adjeff8

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2012
466
4
This is the never ending story, I was in the same boat waiting for the next rMBP iteration to come out but I'm getting older and I don't feel like waiting 6 or 7 months for the new one to hit the shelves :), you will have to wait at least until September or so, and Intel is more focus on power savings for Haswell than GPU which is expected to be around 15% faster, Apple feels comfortably about retina laptops because no other laptop maker has made such a resolution on a laptop, so there still aren't competitors for the rMBP and there isn't still a reason for Apple to make many changes to the next iteration, Apple will do some little tweaks in the next iteration for sure but that's all, I feel that apart from some IR screen problems, most of the problems found in rMBP was about Mountain Lion and the availability of ready applications, the 15" machine is really capable of doing the job fast, I got mine last week and wasn't able to rise the CPU monitor bars above 10% or so when running my apps and browsing the Internet, I sometimes feel this is an overkill machine for me, so If you need it now just buy it, otherwise wait. What Apple can do in the next iteration is to lower the price and make all MBPs retina, I think they're done with the traditional MBP, retina is the future and there is no way back. The worst first-iteration I have had with Apple was the first gen iPad that didn't have enough RAM memory, but MBP is a device Apple have been making for years and the rMBP is the best computer I've ever had.

Of course none of us REALLY knows until it's out, but what everybody has been saying is that the CPU bump will be 15% but the GPU will be 50% and possibly substantially more
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,148
18,875
Of course none of us REALLY knows until it's out, but what everybody has been saying is that the CPU bump will be 15% but the GPU will be 50% and possibly substantially more

Yes, talking about the integrated GPUs. It will be still slower than the current dedicated GPU in the 15" model. And as far as I know, no new GPU architectures will come this year. There might be a refresh, with slightly higher clocks. In any case, the 2013 retina MBP 15" won't be significantly faster than the current one (but they are likely to improve on design/remove some quirks).

Now, the 13" model is an entirely different beast. The new Intel IGP will be a huge improvement.
 
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